He said he welcomed the return of the Republican Party "to a position where it can no longer excuse itself for not having a prógramme on the grounds that it has too few votes."
"During the past few years" the President said, "Republican impotence has caused powerful interests opposed to genuine Democracy to push their ways into the Democratic Party hoping to paralyze it by dividing its councils. The first effect of the Republican gains last November should be to restore to that party the open allegiance of those who entered our primaries and party councils with the deliberate intent of destroying our unity and effectiveness."
Referring to recent reports of a conservative movement within the Democratio Party under the leadership of the Vice President, Mr. John N. Garner, Mr. Roosevelt said: "If there are nominal Democrats who are convinced ours should be a conservative party—Democratic tweedledum to Republican tweedledee—it is on the whole better that they should be drawn within the party so that the fight may be fought out there."
Mr. Roosevelt predicted that "Republican leadership, which is conser tive at heart, will seek to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds, talking for a balanced: budget from one side of the mouth and of opport-uriist raids on the Treasury from the other."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.